Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cultural Convention 2012

Wow, I completely forgot about my work during Cultural Convention.  While, I did not play an instrument or help out as Tri-M, I still participated, and played an integral part of helping with Cultural Convention.  After being asked by Ms. Cutler, I organized a team of photographers to document the IASAS Cultural Convention Music at Taipei American School.  My team, which comprised of myself, Ariel Chou, Alexandria Yao, and Vivian Chou.  We as a group, took thousands and thousands of pictures that were uploaded for everyone to see.  I believe, that we covered every musical delegate at least twice.  There were so many pictures.

One of things I was really proud of, was my idea of setting up projectors.  On the second day, I realized that many of the students had no idea where the photos were going.  So after consulting with Mr. Gray and Ms. Cutler, I quickly organized a couple of laptops and projectors, and quickly set them up in the hallways and the Coach's lounge.  The photos were then viewed by many people.

In the end, I was very happy with my accomplishments.  My contributions were well known by everyone.  I was very pleased with the service I had put in.  As a result, I have become the IASAS Photography Coordinator for our club next year, Photo Ops.

TAIMUN X

Wow, TAIMUN X was one of the best experiences I've had in such a long time.  This year, I represented, one  of the toughest I've done, the glorious People's Republic of China in the Security Council.  Initially, I was thrilled that I was given one of the Permanent 5 countries, and I was even more thrilled that I was placed in the Security Council.  However, after doing much research, I realized that China was harder than I thought.

China is an amazing country, but a country with a very complicated foreign policy.  It supports many smaller developing countries within the Middle East as well as Africa, due to the fact that they have invested tons of money within their country.  China also firmly believes in non-intervention.  They feel that it is unnecessary for other nations to solve other nations' problems for them.  These policies made it difficult to solve the topics during the conference.

 This year's topics were quite interesting: 1. Question of the Situation in Cote d'Ivoire, and 2. Question of the Situation in the Arab Peninsula

Topic 1 talked about a nation that suffered from massive political instability.  The "old government" was ousted and a "new government" was elected, however, many people within the nation still followed the old government.  This led to a destructive civil wars and widespread corruption.  The solution to this situation in the eyes of China was very complicated.  China supported the "old government", but also supported Cote d'Ivoire in general.  China however, did not want anyone to send foreign military intervention to end the civil war.  All these policies made it quite difficult for a perfect solution.

Topic 2 was about the situation in the Arab Peninsula.  At the time, there were many problems within the Arab Peninsula that needed to be solved.  Woman's rights, terrorism and other key issues that continue to plague the Arab Peninsula.  As China, we also did not want foreign military intervention within these nations.  We would not allow any nation to place their military to solve any problem.  Even with terrorism.  I proposed that Peacekeepers would suffice, and that their mandate should not allow for any offensive measures to be taken.

With these topics, debate was intense.  There was a lot of debate during the first topic, as different nations were against each other's policies.  There were many P5 Caucuses as we all had different solutions and opinions.  China sided with Russia with their non-intervention policy, while the US, France and UK sided with each other.  In the end, we passed the resolution, and that problem was solved.

For the other topic I did not really get to finish the debate, as I was chosen to represent China for the Crisis simulation.  The crisis was very interesting.  It was about the North Korean Missile and how the launch threatened international security.  Japan threatened to shoot down the missile, but China would not allow them to do so.  However, China wanted to continue to have talks with South Korea about a Free Trade Agreement.  With these two issues in mind, it was very hard to create a solution that would be a win-win situation for China.  In the end, the final resolution created was terrible, and I voted against it.  Sadly, it passed.

Overall, my experience at TAIMUN was amazing.  Representing China was one of the coolest things I've ever done in my High School Career.  I also made a lot of new friends, while also seeing some of my old friends.  The trip was very rewarding as I also got to bond with my fellow TAS delegates, and I became closer with people such as Vivian, Connor, Joyce, Grace, Eric, Justin, and Jen-Jen.  I will treasure this experience forever.  Next year, I hope to return to TAIMUN, as a Deputy Secretary General.